Are low carb diets like the Atkins diet bad for your health?

A newly published review in the Lancet medical journal found long term followers of the Atkins diet may suffer health problems consistent with carbohydrate deficiencies, including headaches, muscle weakness, cramps and diarrhea.

The study also found "no clear evidence that Atkins-style diets are better than any others for helping people stay slim." According to the study, followers of the Atkins diet began to regain weight as early as six months after beginning the diet.

The study confirms previous findings that suggested long term weight-loss on low-carbohydrate diets is no better than other fad diet approaches. "There is no clear evidence that Atkins-style diets are better than any others for helping people stay slim, despite the popularity and apparent success of the Atkins diet," said Professor Arne Astrup of RVA University in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"These latest findings are consistent with what we have been saying all along about the low carb diet fad," stated Dr. Bradley Willcox, co-creator of the Okinawa Diet™ in a recent telephone interview. "Eliminating or nearly eliminating an entire food group from one's daily diet -- as recommended by Atkins and Atkins-type low carb diets -- is simply not a sound approach to healthy weight loss."